i-Docs began with a Symposium –  the first dedicated to interactive documentary – convened by Judith Aston, Jon Dovey and Sandra Gaudenzi in March 2011. Since then, four further i-Docs Symposia have taken place in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018.

Alongside the symposium, there is the website and Facebook group which have become internationally recognised as key resources in the field. Through the i-Docs project, there have also been a number of research papers written, culminating in a book released in 2017. i-Docs: The Evolving Practices of Interactive Documentary looks at the creative practices, purposes and ethics that lie behind these emergent forms and is co-edited by Judith Aston, Mandy Rose and Sandra Gaudenzi.

In terms of defining interactive documentary – any project that starts with the intention to engage with the real, and that uses interactive digital technology to realise this intention can be considered an interactive documentary.

(Image: INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY STRUCTURE FROM I-DOCS 2012)